European Tour to resume with no spectators
EUROPEAN Tour chief executive Keith Pelley yesterday announced the 2020 season will resume behind closed doors in July and run through to December if lockdown restrictions are eased – but gave no indication whether the Ryder Cup would go ahead as scheduled in September.
The international circuit has been suspended since March due to the coronavirus pandemic – but Pelley announced the launch of a new six-week ‘UK Swing’ and confirmed revised dates for four Rolex Series events at a teleconference yesterday.
The Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, originally due to take place at the East Lothian venue in July, will now be played in early October.
However, Pelley declined to discuss whether the Ryder Cup match between the United States and holders Europe, which was set to take place at
Whistling Straits in Wisconsin from September 25 to 27 before the Covid-19 outbreak, will proceed as planned.
He said: “At this time the Ryder Cup is on the schedule. We’ll not be making any definitive statements or engaging in any further speculation. We still have to discuss every element with our partners of the PGA of America. We will be having further dialogue and will advise in due course.”
Asked about playing the Scottish Open and the BMW Championship at Wentworth in October, Pelley said: “There’s always concern for weather. But at the same time, we looked at the schedule.
“We worked very closely with Aberdeen Standard Investments and the Scottish Government as well as BMW to put those back-to-back. Everything is about ease of travel this year. We looked at it very closely and we felt that those two dates for two of our biggest events would be the best dates on the schedule.”
Meanwhile, Pelley confirmed the European Tour hope to announce a rearranged date for the Dunhill Links Championship, which was to be played across Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and the Old Course in October, soon.
“The Dunhill is still on our schedule,” he said. Pelley stated that all tournaments will be subject to the safety and testing protocols which are set out in a new health strategy which will evolve in line with international government guidance and health guidelines.
“We have been working for the last two months with the UK Government, and in particular, with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport,” he said. “We have been incredibly encouraged by them, hence the reason we are making this announcement today.
“We’ve been following a strategy of playing multiple events in one country to minimise travel and to ensure we have the best opportunity to complete our tournaments in the safest and healthiest environment possible.
“These events are predicated on government restrictions, government regulations and following the WHO guidelines. We have informed the UK government, we have talked to them almost daily now. They have been absolutely terrific.
“We have submitted our health strategy to them and have said to them the hotels need to be operational and the quarantine needs to be lifted for us to be able to continue. We are encouraged. We are optimistic. We are mitigating risk with these tournaments. These six tournament venues are all within a three-hour drive of one another.”
European Tour chief medical officer Dr Andrew Murray said: “We’ve utilised robust risk assessment processes from the World Health Organisation, and each national government.
“We are putting in place measures based on international best practice. These include social distancing, enhanced hygiene, increased medical capacity, and testing.
“Having reviewed this with the UK government, the European Tour have carefully planned a return, which we will fully support with our medical strategy.”